Month: June 2017

“Shit Alison”. I muttered that under my breath while watching most of this episode. This episode has a lot of flashbacks; but Orphan Black does flashbacks really well. This episode focused the majority of its time on Allison. Allison is one of my favorite clones, so I was happy that she got so much of this episode.

The episode starts with a flashback of Allison having to deal with the fact that she is clone and the impacts that it is going to have on her life. Coincidentally, this is also the night Allison decides to do magic mushrooms with her neighbor Ainsley and Ainsley’s husband. Flashbacks of this night are beautifully interspersed within the episode. We learn Allison has been questioning her existence and purpose in life since before she acknowledged that she is a clone almost five years ago now. In present time, Rachel makes Allison feel worse by mentioning that even MK had more value than Allison did, and that Allison leads a very trivial life. This leads Allison to start questioning her life again. Rachel is trying to coerce Allison and Donnie into telling her where Helena is. Allison really doesn’t know and Donnie vehemently denies knowing where she is.

Donnie insists that they should go to the fall fundraiser at their church and Allison agrees when she discovers a bottle of pills. Allison has Donnie meet her at the church and takes a couple of pills at church. She dumps the rest of them in a bottle of juice and very nearly lets the woman who took over planning the festival drink it. She prevents the woman from drinking it at the last minute and stores the bottle in her purse. Back at her house, the cops show up with a warrant to look for evidence tying them to the murder of the gang members that Helena killed. The police end up finding the beheaded body of Dr. Leekie in the garage. Donnie accidentally drinks the drugged juice and passes out in front of the entire church. Members of the church start making disparaging remarks about Donnie which causes Allison to snap and she starts chewing them all out.

Throughout the episode Allison has been seeing Ainsley pop up randomly. Allison, Felix and Sarah debate about how they’re going to get out of the mess of the police finding two bodies in Allison’s garage, because the only thing Rachel wants is the location of Helena. Allison tells the group that she is going to go be useful for once and goes to see Rachel. Allison puts her purse on Rachel’s desk and inside it is a bag with Dr. Leekie’s head in it. Allison explains who is in her garage and that they are not giving up Helena. Rachel calls the cops off and that matter is settled for now. Allison comes back to the house and tells Donnie that she needs to go take a trip to find out who she is because she hasn’t been herself for a while.

In this episode we also see Kira with Rachel, who tells Kira about a mouse that can regrow its skin and fur, and they believe there is something in the mouse’s genetics that allow it to do so. Towards the end of the episode,we see Kira with a knife alone in her room, at this point we are unsure if she is going to cut herself or the mouse, or both. The episode ends with a shot of Helena in a monastery, writing in a journal.

I enjoyed the feelings of guilt and grief that were woven into this episode. We spend a lot time with Allison who is trying to cope with missing her friend and feeling really bad that she didn’t stop her from dying. In most shows, Ainsley’s death wouldn’t have been brought up again. I appreciated being able to watch not only Allison deal with her death at this time, but also Ainsley’s husband and children. It added weight to Ainsely’s death. I also understood the feeling of wanting more that Allison was trying to cope with. Allison has seemed content with her life and I’m happy that she wants more and to discover who she is. I love Allison; I really hope we get to see more of her in coming episodes, otherwise, I might have to rewatch this episode and bawl. I do feel like Orphan Black threw us a bone by showing us that Helena is in a monastery, but I’m really happy they did, because now at least one of my million questions has been answered. We didn’t get a lot of questions answered this time, but I’m okay with it because from the previews of next weeks episode, there might be some answers waiting.

Till next time clone club.

Sorry about the lateness of this recap, we had an incredibly busy weekend that we will share with all of you tomorrow.

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Long ago great power was given to three families. They were supposed to use those powers to protect the people. As people tend to do, they lost sight of that and began to feud for power. An emporer should help rule and keep the peace, but this one seems intent on fueling the fire. And what is outside the walls may be more of a problem then anyone realized. Now the teens of the feuding families must decide the fates of themselves, and possibly everyone else.

This was an interesting book. From the first line you are jumped into the action and it rarely slows down from there. I was highly impressed to learn a teen wrote this book. The characters had depth and purpose and the plot moved along well and kept the reader interested.

4 out of 5 stars.

The Sparks (The Feud Trilogy #1)

by Kyle Prue

Genre: YA Fantasy

Release Date: January 31st 2017

Cartwright Publishing

Summary:

One teen assassin-in-training must unite three warring supernatural dynasties before death comes to them all…

Find out why USA Today calls The Sparks “a crackling read” that “builds a vivid world (both) otherworldly and relatable.

”Neil Vapros just wants to make his father proud. The sixteen-year-old aspires to serve his family as an assassin, but he nearly dies in the process. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Neil’s family, as well as two rival dynasties, have abandoned an ancient promise to protect their city. An unknown evil has begun hunting all three houses from the shadows…

As Neil’s relatives fall one-by-one, he attempts to unite the three supernatural families against a common enemy. But earning trust after years of assassination attempts could prove impossible. Neil’s fight may involve more than a bloodthirsty empire, as betrayal rears its ugly head…

The Sparks is the first book in the award-winning Epic Feud trilogy of young adult fantasy novels. If you like captivating characters, inventive world building, and supernatural battles, then you’ll love Kyle Prue’s action-packed coming-of-age tale.

Click image to order on Amazon

The world beyond the wall was more than expected. On the run from the emperor, Neil has much more learning to do about who he is and what he wants to be.

The second book in the series is a step up from the first. The author has taken his cast of characters and given them even more life and breath. Problems from the first story are resolved as new enemies and obstacles are introduced. I was able to get more comfortable with this book and read it in one setting.

This young author is quite the talent and has a big future.

4 out of 5 stars

The Flames (The Feud Trilogy #2)

by Kyle Prue

Release Date: April 22nd 2017

Summary:

To survive incredible odds, one teen may have to trust both his former enemies and his fire-forged destiny…

Neil Vapros is one of the last free warriors of the great city of Altryon. He and his brother’s only chance of staying alive involves trusting an uneasy alliance with their former enemies. But in the world beyond his city’s walls, Neil’s life is much more dangerous than he ever imagined possible…

The Emperor has hired a ruthless madman and a vicious pack of assassins to hunt down the last supernatural survivors. As the allies attempt to hide from their enemies, the leader of a rebellion singles out Neil as the answer to a prophecy. Neil isn’t sure he believes he’s been “chosen,” but he knows one thing for sure: their only chance for survival lies in sticking together. While treachery and pain wait around every corner, Neil and his allies may win the day, but victory without casualties could prove impossible…

The Flames is the second book in the award-winning Epic Feud trilogy of young adult fantasy novels. If you like rich fantasy settings, imaginative supernatural abilities, and tough-as-nails characters, then you’ll love Kyle Prue’s electrifying adventure.

About the Author

Kyle Prue is an award winning author, actor and comedian. Kyle wrote The Sparks: Book One of the Feud Trilogy when he was just 16 years old. Kyle has spent the past year on a national book tour visiting over 80 middle and high schools and meeting over 60,000 students. Kyle is now a freshman at the University of Michigan, studying acting and creative writing. He still visits schools and is a keynote speaker for conferences.

Kyle is the founder of Sparking Literacy, a non-profit dedicated to lowering the high school dropout rate by inspiring teens to read, write and follow their dreams. An actor and comedian, Kyle trains at Second City Comedy Club in Chicago, where a number of SNL actors have gotten their start. Kyle currently lives with his family in Petoskey, Michigan.

The Sparks has won numerous national awards including Best Book and Best Fiction for Young Adults 2015. The Sparks was runner up for Best Young Adult Fiction at the Florida Book Festival and won Honorable Mentions at the New England Book Festival, Midwest Book Festival, Southern California Book Festival, the International London Book Festival and won a prestigious Indie Fab award. Kyle also won an International Moonbeam Award for Best Young Author.

click image to follow the tour

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Three classic tales with a twist. These stories were fun quick reads. Dry humor that at times made me laugh out loud, I enjoyed them. When I was reading them, in my head I wanted a movie/TV show where we saw actors comically acting these out while some Movie Phone voiced man narrates the story. I would watch that over and over again. These were not what I expected, but so much what I needed. If you like this type of humor you will love these Funny Fairy Tales.

4 out of 5 stars

Humor

Date Published:13 March 2017

A long time ago

in a faraway land

there lived a woman

who was allergic to dust.

Her name was Cinderella

Funny Fairytales are a twist on the old beloved Grimm and Disney Fairy Tales. They are fun short stories people can read in a couple of minutes when waiting for the bus or on a train ride. Work just like an app, with story plot changes, new adventurous characters, mysteries and danger.

The new Red Riding, with the hood that leads to fame and fortune, the mysterious wild wolf, and a grandmother so evil, she could rewrite the history of sin. Red’s not little anymore!

The traditional tale, with a new development – the grandmother is exceptionally vicious and the wolf very wise, red riding hood is a young curious and passionate woman exploring the life of fame, and the topic of false accusation is strong in the book.

About the Author

Reut Barak is a freelance journalist, previously published in National Geographic online. She has an MBA from the University of Oxford, and has worked and traveled internationally. This is her first book series.

Well, no not really… The true story is:

Reut was born in Camelot in the year 1201, following the famous explosion of the northern dragon tower.

She has a degree in fantasy and science fiction from the University of Atlantis and this record can be found in the central library, now twenty thousand leagues under the sea.

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Attack on Titan is an anime series based on the manga by the same name. In the first season the series begins by focusing on Eren, Mikasa and Armin as they go from children to young adults. Their village is destroyed when titans breach the protective wall. Titans are generally giant humanoid creatures devoid of sex organs who seem to only exists to eat people. When they first showed up and slaughtered people, walls were built to keep them out. Three walls were built so that if one was breached, people could flee behind the next. When the titans breach wall Maria, Eren witnesses his mother being killed by a titan. He vows to kill all titans. Mikasa is devoted to Eren as he saved her when her family was killed and she was to be sold into slavery, she vows to go wherever he goes. She also seems to be the much stronger warrior. Armin eventually loses the last of his family and goes into soldier training with his two friends.

The training is hard but the three friends are adamant. Mikasa is a natural warrior and excels at everything. Armin is brilliant and though he is weaker, his mind makes up for it. Eren is fiercely devoted to the cause and refuses to give up, making him a worthwhile soldier. Eren has been determined to join the Scout regiment since he was a child, he wants to venture outside the walls and see the world and battle the titans.

Five years have passed since the attack on Wall Maria and the cadets have passed their lessons. The three friends want to join the scout regiment. As the cadets are assigned to their first district, the Colossal titan that started the attack on Wall Maria appears and destroys the gate to Trost district on Wall Rose. Eren leads the counter attack. During the battle many are lost. A titan is about to kill Armin when Eren shows up and saves him, but loses his arm and leg before being swallowed.

It looks like the humans will lose the battle when suddenly a titan begins fighting other titans. The soldiers take advantage of this opportunity to refill their gas canisters. As they return to the fight, the rogue titan continues to battle and when he finally falls, the cadets are shocked as Eren emerges from the nape of the titans neck, fully healed.

The cadets were not the only ones who witnessed Eren emerge from the titan and he now has to face the suspicions of his superiors. Mikasa and Armin rush to defend Eren, but are unable to sway the opinions of the scared leader. When Kitts orders the cannons to be fired on Eren, he transforms himself partially to protect Mikasa and Armin. When they continue to fail to convince Kitts Eren is no threat he orders the cannons to fire again but is stopped by Commander Pyxis.

Pyxis asks Eren if he can use his titan ability to save the people and they hatch a plan for him to block the gate with a giant bolder by transforming again. Though at first Titan Eren does not remember his friends and attacks them, Armin is able to get through to him and the plan ultimately prevails.

The military is not convinced Eren is safe but the scout regiment convinces them to let them take him with them to study and work with. Eren is excited to join the scouts. Shortly afterwards most of his cadet friends also join the regiment. All except Annie who joins the military police. After they arrive at scout headquarters, the unit leaves the walls on their first mission.

AS the unit spreads out into scouting formation, they are attacked. The titans are lead by a rare female titan who appears to possess intelligence. They realize she is similar to Eren, a human inside a titan. After a fierce battle they are able to capture the titan, but she escapes by calling other titans to devour her body. The team realizes she could be traveling in her human form but not in time to stop her from finding Eren and attacking him. Another titan battle resumes, eventually the female titan bites Eren from the nape of his titan body, but Captain Levi and Mikasa are able to save him and the regiment retreats.

The military leaders consider Eren a failure and risk and demand he be returned and face death. The scout regiment has a plan though. They out the human who becomes the female titan and are finally able to subdue her. Eren is allowed to return to the scout regiment and the team takes time to grieve those they lost.

This was a long first season, containing 25 episodes. I enjoyed the story as well as the artwork and style of animation. I loved the range and depth of the characters and the struggles they live through to become who they are. There were so many surprises and shocks and i admit I got emotional a few times. As I begin season 2 I just hope for more Mikasa and Levi. Season 2 is available on Crunchyroll.

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Have a little time to waste? Need something to do when your standing alone in a line somewhere? Maybe you just don’t want to talk to people, phone games are the perfect distraction. Hannah reviews a few she has tried out.

Magikarp Jump

You play an up and coming Magikarp trainer making your way through the eight Magikarp Jumping Leagues. Catch a Magikarp. Feed and train it to level it up. When it gets strong enough, battle through the leagues, until it’s time to retire your fish and start again with a new Magikarp.

It’s a fun, time killing game. You don’t need to devote all your time to it, maybe 5 minutes at a time tops. It’s brightly colored, teaches some positive life lessons, and gives you many rewards.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Alchademy

Mix two ingredients in a cauldron. Wait 3000ish seconds. Find out if you made an awesome new thing or a rock. You are rewarded either way. Customize your cauldron or your cloaked alchemist.

This is a mindless, thirty seconds at a time game. There’s a fun vaguely gothic design to the game and some of the quips your alchemist makes are entertaining.

3 out of 5 stars

Avengers Academy

Nick Fury, Odin, and Dr. Pym start an academy for potential Avengers in the middle of a field surrounded by Time Fog. Fight Hydra, welcome new students, complete missions, and clean up the campus grounds.

Teenage super heroes are cute and fun. They gush about costumes, rib each other about back stories, and do their best to solve the mystery of Avengers Academy. There are monthly special events where you can do different missions to collect new items and rare characters. It takes about 5-10 minutes at a time to play.

4 out of 5 stars

Pokemon Go

Walk around with your phone and catch Pokemon in the real world. You can train them up, evolve them, and fight with them.

If you walk a lot this game is great. Especially if you like to go to new places. If you don’t walk much or you don’t go to new places very often, this can be a monotonous game.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Farm Heroes Saga

This is a classic match three game with a farm theme. Each level has a different mini challenge. Often it’s about collecting a certain amount of something or other.

This is an incredibly satisfying game. I can spend hours on this game, just finding patterns and draining my phones battery. The art is cute and uses bright colors.

Batgirl is one of the first characters I ended up reading when I was trying to figure out who my favorite superhero actually was. I have only been aware of her existence for maybe the last five years. Wonder Woman was always my favorite superhero, but I started to wonder if she was my favorite because she was the only female superhero I knew about, or if she was actually my favorite. So I started reading comics and finished a Batman trade and said something about how I wished Batman were a girl and was then handed this volume of Batgirl.

The story takes place three years after The Killing Joke, where the Joker shoots Barbara Gordon (also known as Batgirl) through the spine and paralyzes her. Barbara has miraculously gained the ability to walk and be Batgirl again. This is briefly referred to in the comic. Now that Barbara has regained the ability to walk, she decides it’s time to move out of her dad’s house. Barbara also faces off against a villain who is determined to kill people who survived accidents that they should have died in. While looking for the villain, Barbara finds herself face to face with him and his gun. She freezes and someone dies because she unable to act and stop the villain. Through the story, Barbara grows as a person/superhero who is dealing with PTSD. She doesn’t have superpowers to keep her safe, she has herself. She has an eidetic memory that she combines with her brains and her skills as a dancer to help her beat bad guys. And she goes after bad guys because she thinks it’s the right thing to do. Within this volume of Batgirl we get to watch her question choices, doubt herself and be stubborn enough to insist on going on this journey alone.

This is a character I found myself in. I love how human Batgirl is and how in her head you are able to get with the way the character is written. There are thought bubbles so you literally know what she is thinking every step of the way and it’s awesome. This book is dark, people die and the villains really are bad guys. There is a grittiness to the story that keeps you invested, keeps you going back for more. Batgirl is human and flawed and she still tries to be more than she is. She is a character that is trying to find herself as a person and as a superhero. She’s not just Batgirl, or Barbara Gordon, she’s both and she’s trying to find the balance. The art is terrific, but it’s all about the storytelling with this book, which is amazing. This book is why I am so passionate about this character and it’s also why I’ll read anything Gail Simone writes. I recommend this comic to anyone who is curious about Batgirl.

I rate this book five out of five stars.

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There are spoilers in this review, so if you have not seen the episode, you’ve been warned.

Holy Crap! This episode starts with Sarah waking up at Dyad and being told that all of her sisters want her to cooperate with Rachel. Rachel herself tells Sarah that she can have everything she wants, her sisters safe, Kira safe, her family back if she just cooperates. Even Mrs. S is telling her it’s the right thing to do. All Rachel wants in exchange, is to study Kira after school sometimes, but that nothing will hurt Kira. Sarah agrees to this even though we can tell everything in her is fighting against that decision. I was fighting against that decision watching it. It felt like we were giving up somehow.

We get back to the house with Mrs. S and Felix and they all tell her, yes we agree with the plan, until they are left alone, then the plotting begins and they tell Sarah that no way are they going to let Kira go to Rachel and that they’re working on an escape plan. MK makes an appearance in this episode. She goes to Felix’s loft and does computer magic. She is supposed to go with Sarah and Kira when they escape so she can meet up with Cosima and get the cure as she is also sick.

The story flashes to Helena and Donnie who are in the hospital because Helena’s stomach was punctured with a stick in the last episode and the concern was for the babies. The stick is removed and the doctors notice something odd about the babies, the one that was injured from the stick has healed somehow and the doctors are confused and want to do more tests. Helena tells Donnie that she’s going to get out and hide and only Sarah can know where she is going. We do not learn where she is going. Donnie gets pulled from the room for questioning about why his pregnant wife got stuck with a stick. Donnie is able to evade the hospital staff when Helena causes a distraction and pins the doctor to the bed with a giant needle through her cheeks. Helena and Donnie are both on the run again.

Sarah, Mrs. S and Felix create and execute a plan to get Kira out of school before Rachel can get her. Kira goes with Felix and Mrs. S, while Sarah goes back to Felix’s loft to try to convince MK to come with them. Ferdinand follows Sarah from the school to Felix’s loft. MK tells Sarah that she is tired of running and she will hold off Ferdinand so Sarah can escape, but that “it” is bigger than keeping Kira safe. Sarah runs and Ferdinand comes in and fights with MK. MK is killed by Ferdinand as Sarah catches up to Mrs. S and Felix. Kira insists that she wants to go with Rachel and that MK is dead, which she knows because she can no longer feel her. Kira wants to know why she is the way she is and she believes Rachel can help her find out why. Because this is what Kira wants, everyone agrees to it and they surrender again. The episode ends with Delphine showing up on Mrs. S’s door telling her that she has something she needs to tell her, but Sarah can’t know. Of course we don’t find out what it is.

This episode had some of my favorite Orphan Black elements in it; Sarah pretending to be Rachel, and the odd relationship with Donnie and Helena. Maslany is so good at what she does, it continues to boggle my brain. In this episode, she was also MK pretending to be Sarah pretending to be Rachel, the subtle nuances that she does with each character make it really believable. The Donnie/Helena relationship makes me laugh a lot, so I’m always happy when we get to see more of it. We did get some answers to questions we had at the end of the last episode. We know what happened to Mrs. S and Kira now, but that’s about it. I have even more questions now: Helena’s babies are able to heal themselves- does Kira also have that ability? How much can Kira feel from the clones, can she feel ALL of them? How much about Rachel have they actually told Kira? Have they been protecting Kira too much on that front? What is the deal with Mr. Westmorland? What did Delphine tell Mrs. S? Where is Helena? Does the cure actually work? So many questions and so few answers. Until next time Clone Club.

This is a review of season 1 of Big Little Lies. I had seen the commercials for the show and the cast was what caught my attention the most. Reese Witherspoon as Madeline, Nicole Kidman as Celeste, Shailene Woodley as Jane and Alexander Skarsgård as Perry. I was really impressed with who was cast and it was part of my drive to read the book as well, because I knew that if I watched the show before I read the book, I was probably never going to read the book. The previews for Big Little Lies implied that there was lots of mystery and secrets afoot and that this was not a drama to be missed. After I finished the book and was meh about it, I still found myself curious about the television adaptation, so one weekend I sat down and watched it.

The tv show does follow the book remarkably well, it’s still a story that’s told through multiple viewpoints and backwards. We start off six months before a murder takes place during a school trivia fundraiser night. The main perspectives we get are from the three main characters, Jane, Madeline, and Celeste. Jane is the single mom of a child named Ziggy, Jane is 24 years old. Madeline is the mother of three children, she has just turned 40 years old. Celeste is the mother of two twin boys. The drama starts to unfold when Ziggy is accused of bullying another child. This events starts a whole drama between the mommy circles. The main trio become friends and we get to watch their lives unfold through the turmoil as well. The tv show did add additional story lines that were not in the book to add more dimension to the show.

What was missing in the tv show, was a sense of urgency, a desire to know who was going to die at the end. I’m not entirely sure if this was because I already knew who it was from reading the book, or if it really wasn’t there. The tone was different as well, with the book I felt like I was constantly looking for clues about the ending and the writing really led to the sense of urgency I felt. The tv show almost felt lackadaisical, it lacked any urgency and seemed to mosey towards the end. I continued watching because I wanted to see how exactly the end was going to be handled. The endings are slightly different in the way things are wrapped, the book-things were tied up better and the show was more open ended, potentially for more seasons. I didn’t love or hate either ending to be honest. As far as book to tv adaptations, this one was surprisingly close, while a couple of characters were different in terms of looks, the essence of their characters was still captured in a way that satisfied me and made me happy. When I turned this on, I was in the mood for a drama and that’s exactly what I got. I would recommend season one to anyone who actually liked the book.

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Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty is one of those few books that I would read all over again. It reminded me a lot of signing my kids up for Little League. Even though all the kids are on the same team, the parents are too busy having their own little soap opera to really notice what’s going on. I think this book was easier for me as a mother than it would be for someone who didn’t have children and understand how childish adults can be.

Character-wise I was fascinated with how one author could so easily portray so many different mindsets. Even the little side characters that speak through the interviews had their own personalities. And none of them ever broke character. The setups to find out why each one was the way they were, made it so easy for me to like unlikable characters. The book portrayed the way that we each only see one side of a story when there are so many little details missed that can turn a small lie into a disaster. It was almost as if each character was a world in their own.

Of course this made me a big fan of her writing style and the storyline all together. Throughout the book I was wondering what things I had done to make people see me the way that they do, how different things would be if people can see things through my eyes, and how different I would treat people if I could see things through their own eyes. This book makes people think and if an author can get people thinking they have mastered their craft. Becoming the different character in each chapter made me want to read what the next character was thinking about the same things. Her writing style made me want to see what they were seeing, smell the ocean, be in the room with them, and she did it in a way that I could see all of it in my head. I could see the playground, I could see the restaurant, I could see the people without her needing to put page after page after page of endless detail.

At the end of the book I did have two negative remarks. Considering I’m good about bitching about everything, two negatives is not bad at all. It took me getting through the first third of the book before I really got into it. If I hadn’t known someone dies at the end of it, I probably would have put it down about 50 pages in and not finished. Then after that first third I was hooked. At that point I was so invested in these characters that my heart broke when they revealed why they were in so much pain. It almost got to the point of being a little overwhelming with how much pain each character was going through. Of course it made me see why they were the way they were, it was just a little hard to get through without needing a break.

If we’re giving out stars or cupcakes or unicorns or whatever we’re giving for this as ratings, I would give it 6 out of 6 star unicorn cupcakes.

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I picked up this book because it was the book chosen for my monthly book club. I had also seen previews for the first season of the adaptation on HBO and the cast made it look really good. I like to mix up my reading genres and it had been awhile since I’d read anything that didn’t have some elements of fantasy in it. I will admit, it was hard for me to get into this book initially, because I was so entrenched in an epic fantasy series two days before I picked up this book. This story is definitely not fantasy.

This book is a story that’s told through multiple viewpoints and backwards. We start off six months before a murder takes place during a school trivia fundraiser night. The main perspectives we get are from the three main characters, Jane, Madeline, and Celeste. Jane is the single mom of a child named Ziggy, Jane is 24 years old. Madeline is the mother of three children, she has just turned 40 years old. Celeste is the mother of two twin boys. The drama starts to unfold when Ziggy is accused of bullying another child. This events starts a whole drama between the mommy circles. The main trio become friends and we get to watch their lives unfold through the turmoil as well. The books pushes heavily that someone died and it implies that it’s one of the three main moms, but really it could be any of the moms that die.

This book was tough for me to get into, but that was perhaps because I don’t have any kids so I had a lot of trouble relating to any of the moms since I’m not one. I am married though so I was able to get more into the story when the moms started talking about their relationships with their spouses. I kept reading because I wanted to find out who died and who the murderer was. The book did get into enough people’s lives that it was compelling to read once. I probably won’t read it again. If you don’t like books that switch between multiple viewpoints, this is not the book for you. There are a couple twists at the end, but I kinda thought they were meh and the ending was only okay. I would recommend this book to moms maybe.

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